In this week's highlights, French utilities dominate nuclear generation in France and Belgium, crude oil prices remain within touching distance of 100 dollars as demand for road fuels picks up, while gas prices are easing back on a more relaxed supply picture in Europe and diplomatic efforts to ease the standoff between Russia and Ukraine.
- French, Belgian nuclear in the spotlight (00:16)
- Road fuel demand lifts oil (01:11)
- Iran talks offer hope for easing of sanctions (01:48)
- Gas prices ease on LNG supply, mild weather (02:28)
In this week's highlights, crude oil prices remain within touching distance of 100 dollars as demand for road fuels picks up, while gas prices are easing back on a more relaxed supply picture in Europe and diplomatic efforts to ease the standoff between Russia and Ukraine.
But first to the power markets, where we're looking out for updates on the outlook for European nuclear from two major operators – EDF and Engie. The French utilities dominate nuclear generation in France and Belgium respectively, and both are set to report full year results this week.
On Tuesday, Engie will no doubt highlight its energy transition plans, ranging from renewable hydrogen to floating offshore wind. But for us, the most pressing news story could be on Belgian nuclear, and whether Engie has definitively closed the door on extending reactor lifetimes at Tihange and Doel.
On Friday, meanwhile, EDF reports. As you can see in this chart, EDF has already downgraded its forecast French nuclear output for 2022 and 2023, so investors will be anxious to hear how the utility is proposing to deal with the root cause of recent outages: stress corrosion in reactor welds.
And now to oil, where we're keeping close tabs on resurgent demand and prices, particularly in Europe. With pandemic restrictions lifting, road fuel demand has been on the rise, helping push Platts' Dated Brent crude benchmark close to $100 a barrel and limiting arbitrage opportunities out of the region.
These pressures are linked to Europe's gas supply crisis, gas being a key input in the refining process, particularly for diesel, so recent tensions with Russia over Ukraine, and whether or not Europe can expect additional gas supplies via the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, remain very much in focus.
On the supply side, the market is also keeping a close watch on talks in Vienna between Western countries and Iran that may lead to an easing of sanctions and a recovery in Iranian crude exports, with the Biden administration under growing pressure to help ease prices.
We'll get insights into all this as corporate results season rounds off this week with reports from Russia's Novatek, a key LNG producer, on Wednesday, and Italy's Eni and Hungary's Mol on Friday.
And that brings us to our social media question of the week: do you think Brent crude has the legs to get to $100 a barrel? Send us your comments with the hashtag PlattsMM.
And finally, in the European gas market, front-month TTF gas was trading at a 2022 low last week amid continued strong LNG arrivals into Europe, mild and windy weather and signs of de-escalation in the Russia/Ukraine standoff after French President Emmanuel Macron's visits to Moscow and Kyiv.
This week it's the turn of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to travel to the two capitals for further talks.
While these diplomatic efforts seem to be keeping a lid on the situation, gas markets remain on edge, not least because European storage levels are now down to 32% of nominal capacity.
The Platts Atlas of Energy Transition is your map to the sustainable commodity markets of the future. You can explore the Atlas by visiting the address displayed on your screen.
Thanks for kicking off your Monday with us and have a great week ahead!